Alice Davis Announced for ScareLA!

Disneyland fans, hang on to your lap bars! ScareLA is thrilled to announce the addition of Disney Legend Alice Davis to its special presentation, When Hinges Creak: Celebrating 45 Years of The Haunted Mansion!

Representing her late husband, Marc Davis, Alice will join Disney Legend Bob Gurr and Doombuggies.com’s Jeff Baham on August 9, 2014 at ScareLA as fans celebrate the iconic Disneyland attraction on its actual 45th Anniversary! The group will reminisce about the Mansion’s design and development, as well as take questions from audience members.

“This is obviously a really exciting announcement that we’ve been waiting to share with everyone,” says Rick West, Creative Programming Producer for ScareLA, and owner of Theme Park Adventure. “When the production team decided that we were going to celebrate the world’s most famous haunted house at ScareLA this year with a Haunted Mansion presentation, we immediately started thinking about who we could include that was intimately involved with the attraction’s design. While Alice didn’t directly work on the Mansion, her late husband, Marc Davis, did. He was one of the visionary creatives behind its development, and is considered one of the greatest Disney Imagineers that ever lived. His genius and artistic know-how set the level of standards that the themed entertainment industry continues to strive for to this day. Having Alice with us to represent Marc and share stories about his involvement in the development of The Haunted Mansion is fantastic, and will really be special for theme park and Halloween fans in attendance.”

Alice Davis, a California native, is respected by themed entertainment fans and professionals alike around the world. She is a beloved industry gem, and considered to be “Disney royalty”. A native of California, Alice attended the prestigious Chouinard Art Institute, where she met her future husband, the legendary Marc Davis. Upon graduating, Alice went to work as a lingerie designer in Los Angeles, where she would become head designer for Beverly Vogue & Lingerie. The fashion community fell in love with Alice’s style and expertise in the use of exotic fabrics.

In 1950, she was asked by Marc Davis to create a costume for Sleeping Beauty model Helene Stanley. During the production of Sleeping Beauty, Alice and Marc became closer, and began dating. The two were married in 1956. Shortly after the two were married, Walt Disney became very fond of Alice and her work, and asked her to join his team at the studio as a costume designer for the 1960 film Toby Tyler. She stayed on at the Walt Disney Studios, where she participated in costume design for numerous television programs.

By 1963, Walt asked Alice to shift her attention and talent to the themed entertainment arm of his company, then called WED Enterprises. Her first assignment was to collaborate with artist Mary Blair on a new attraction for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, It’s a Small World. She also went to work on another World’s Fair project at WED – The Carousel of Progress. During this time, Alice established an design, refurbishment, and quality control area for Audio-Animatronics at WED in Glendale. In the years to come, Alice would also create costumes for Disneyland’s Flight to the Moon attraction, as well as the iconic Pirates of the Caribbean.

Alice retired from Disney in the late ’70s, but remains a very active fan favorite at conventions and company meet-and-greet events held around the world at its various parks and resorts. Recently, Alice was consulted by the makers of Pixar’s Up, as they were attempting to answer the challenging question of what the most important things in life are. The marriage and friendship shared by Marc and Alice Davis was well-known as a love affair that lasted until his death in 2000 – although, she still loves and misses him deeply today.

Her contributions to The Walt Disney Company were spotlighted in 2004, when she was honored with the title of Disney Legend at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. In 2012, Alice received the highest form of award recognition given to any individual by Disneyland Resort – her own window on Main Street – right next to her late husband’s.

Alice lives in Los Angeles, where she continues to entertain, enlighten and delight fans of all ages wherever she goes!

Tickets to ScareLA 2014 are now on sale! The event will be held August 9th and 10th at The Reef (formerly LA Mart) in downtown Los Angeles. The Haunted Mansion presentation will take place the morning of August 9th.

TPAers, sound off! What do you think of the inclusion of Alice Davis in the Haunted Mansion presentation at ScareLA 2014? Are you a Disneyland fan, an animation fan and/or Halloween fan that is just dying to see this special Haunted Mansion panel? Share your thoughts with fellow fans below!